Medical folklore—the use of your stethoscope's bell

In my efforts to tease out medicine's innermost secrets and succeed at the final hurdle to becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians by passing the clinical examination (PACES), I have uncovered what I consider to be an interesting and neglected fact about the bell and diaphragm of most stethoscopes.

Like a migrating bird, I return each Christmas to my birthplace, and more importantly to my parents' address, and set aside a few minutes to sort through my obsolete but emotive adolescent belongings. Rummaging around, I unearthed my Littman stethoscope's box, …